1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display apparatus mounted on a digital camera, and a digital camera provided with this image display apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Each of most digital cameras in which an image is electrically taken through an imaging unit has an optical finder and an image display apparatus (monitor) which displays the image taken through the imaging unit. And, the digital camera includes imaging lenses provided in a camera main body and a charge-coupled-device provided to face the imaging lenses in the camera main body.
The optical finder includes a finder object window and an eyepiece window, which are provided in front and rear surfaces of the camera main body, and a finder optical system which is provided in the camera main body and has one end facing the finder object window and the other end facing the eyepiece window. Usually, the optical finder is arranged at an upper edge portion of the camera main body in consideration of the easiness of viewing the eyepiece window while the camera is held by a user.
The image display apparatus comprises a display panel, such as a liquid crystal display panel. The display panel includes a display area in which a plurality of pixels are arranged in a matrix, a projection which projects upwards or downwards from an upper edge or lower edge of an outer periphery of the display area, and a pixel drive unit which is mounted on the projection. In the field of the digital camera two types of image display apparatuses are used, one of which is a fixed type and another of which is a movable type.
In a digital camera disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 11-160787, and comprising a fixed type image display apparatus, a monitor opening is provided below an eyepiece window of an optical finder on a rear surface of a camera main body, and an image display apparatus is arranged below the optical finder in the camera main body. The image display apparatus exposes a display area of its display panel to the outside of the camera main body through the monitor opening in the rear surface of the camera main body.
In a digital camera disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 10-191114, and comprising a movable type image display apparatus, the image display apparatus is provided on a rear surface of a camera main body in such a manner that this apparatus can slide in up-and-down directions. The movable type image display apparatus is arranged at an upper end position when the optical finder is not used, and the display apparatus is arranged at a lower end position when the optical finder is used. The movable type image display apparatus arranged at the upper end position covers an eyepiece window of an optical finder, and the display apparatus arranged at the lower end position is moved from and exposes the eyepiece window. The movable type image display apparatus projects its lower end portion downwards from the camera main body.
In the field of the digital camera, it is desired to make the display area of the image display apparatus being as large as possible so that a user can easily view a monitored image displayed on the display area.
However, in the conventional display panel including the projection projecting upwards or downwards from the upper edge or lower edge of the display area as described above, a dimension of the display area in the up-and-down directions is reduced by an amount corresponding to a dimension of the projection in the up-and-down directions as compared with a dimension of the entire display panel in the up-and-down directions.
Therefore, in the conventional digital camera comprising the fixed type image display apparatus and structured as described above, the dimension of the entire display panel in the up-and-down directions is restricted to be within the dimension of a part of the camera main body below the optical finder, and hence the dimension of the display area in the up-and-down directions is restricted to be smaller than the dimension of the part of the camera main body below the optical finder in the up-and-down directions.
On the contrary, in the conventional digital camera comprising the movable type image display apparatus and structured as described above, the dimension of the entire display panel in the up-and-down directions can be increased to match with the dimension of the rear surface of the camera main body in the up-and-down directions. Therefore, as compared with the digital camera comprising the fixed type image display apparatus, the digital camera comprising the movable type image display apparatus can use the display panel having a larger dimension in the up-and-down directions, and hence the display panel can have the display area having a larger dimension in the up-and-down directions.
However, in the digital camera comprising the movable type image display apparatus, a structure for making the movable type image display apparatus being slidable on the rear surface of the camera main body is complicated, and its manufacturing cost is high. Furthermore, in the digital camera comprising the movable type image display apparatus, the display panel of the image display apparatus must be slid in the up-and-down directions in accordance with use or nonuse of the optical finder, and hence it makes the utilization of the digital camera being troublesome.